


Blood Lust

by mnemosyne23



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: Don't nothing ever go smooth, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-07
Packaged: 2018-01-07 20:10:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mnemosyne23/pseuds/mnemosyne23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a job goes sour, River and Jayne discover they share a common aftereffect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood Lust

**Author's Note:**

> Joss is Boss. We are but serfs in his kingdom.

Worst. Gorram plan. EVER.  


  
Swearing like a sailor, Jayne managed to clamber down the ladder into his bunk, angrily shrugging off his bandoleers of ammunition and tossing them aside before peeling off his t-shirt and throwing it into a corner so he could assess the damage. " _Ai ya huai le..._ ," he grumbled, surveying the fresh array of nicks, cuts and bruises that covered his torso. "Mal, you _gou cao de hun dan_ son of a whore!"  


  
Growling angrily he strode across his room to take a look at himself in the mirror. It took a minute to find it behind his piles of clothes and ammunition – he didn't use it much. Once it was free, he took the opportunity to look at himself from all sides.  


  
" _Ta ma de_ ," he snarled, glaring at the gash that stretched down his cheek. "Always they gotta go for the face. Dog-humping sons of bitches."  


  
The plan, according to Mal, was going to go down smooth as meringue. That right there should've been Jayne's warning that everything was going to go straight to Hell in Lucifer's handbag. Nothing _ever_ went smooth, especially not when the _jing chang mei yong de_ idiot of a captain went and _said_ it was going to. It had started off good enough; the buyers hadn't made a stink about forking over the payment in exchange for a few crates of medical supplies, and for a minute, Jayne had gotten to thinking maybe this was going to be simple after all.  


  
Till the pirates showed up.  


  
Gorram _pirates!_  


  
Apparently the idiot buyers hadn't been too quiet about where they were headed with a bagful of cash, nor about what they were going to be buying while they were there. If Jayne could've gotten away with shooting them both in the head for sheer stupidity, he'd've done it, only he was a bit preoccupied with trying not to get shot himself, and that was infinitely more important.  


  
The _Serenity_ crew weren't exactly honest, but they weren't _pirates_. They robbed and thieved, but only as the job required. They didn't zip through the 'verse seeking out settlements to pillage, and they didn't go around shooting up innocent smugglers; unless they deserved it. Once upon a time maybe Jayne wouldn't have cared much about the differences, but he sure as hell did when he had one lunatic coming at him with a knife while another ran off with their payment and two more took off with the medicine.  


  
Needless to say, it hadn't gone down smooth.  


  
Everyone was wounded, though no one'd ended up dead; Jayne didn't know if he was glad or annoyed about that. Simon was working on the captain up in the infirmary, because of course Mal'd gone and gotten himself shot; the man was a magnet for hurt. Jayne hadn't felt like waiting around to have the doc start hemming and hawing over him – didn't have anything that needed a weave anyway – so he'd taken off for his bunk to tend to himself. He'd done it for years before Simon'd come along, before he'd even joined up with _Serenity_ ; he could damn well do it now.  


  
Stumping over to his bunk, he sat himself down heavily and reached under the bed, rifling around until he came out with a First Aid kit. Blowing dust off the top – and making himself sneeze and curse in the process – he opened the flimsy catch and dug around in search of some antiseptic wipes.  


  
"You're a rainbow."  


  
"Jesus...!" Jayne yelped, looking up quickly to see River standing at the foot of his ladder, peering into the room through the curtain of her hair. "The hell you doin' there, Crazy? Shoo! Git!"  


  
To his consternation, she did the exact opposite and took a further step into the room. "Black, blue and red," she said. "Many colors, multi-hued. A rainbow." A small smile flickered on her lips. "A Jaynebow."  


  
Jayne glowered at her. "Yeah, well I'll tie you into a River knot iffen you don't get yourself outta my room. Go bug your brother."  


  
"No such thing as a River knot."  


  
"Ain't no such thing as a Jaynebow neither."  


  
"It rhymes."  


  
"Yeah? You know what else rhymes? If you don't turn tail now and scoot, your scrawny ass'll meet my boot."  


  
River laughed, which wasn't the reaction he'd been looking for at all. "That's funny!" she enthused, closing his bunk hatch and beaming at him.  


  
"No it ain't!" he argued as she moved towards him. Part of him wanted to scramble as far away from her as possible, while the other part wanted to be a gorram man and stand his ground. It wasn't an easy thing to do; River'd been there at the exchange today. He'd seen the way she took out half of them pirates all by her lonesome, like they were paper dolls or something. Hell, she didn't even have a scratch on her.  


  
"Yes she does," River said, ignoring his glare. "In many hidden, secret places." She stopped in front of his knees, staring down into his face.  


  
Then she swooned, and suddenly his lap was full of crazy.  


  
" _Qing wa cao de liu mang!_ " Jayne exclaimed, trying to shove her away. "Geroff! Geroff me!"  


  
His hand pressed against her ribs, and she cried out softly, tensing against him.  


  
Jayne froze. "Uh... Crazy?" he asked. "You all right?"  


  
She whimpered, burying her face in his neck.  


  
Now he was _really_ scared. Ravening crazy women he could handle, but crying little girls left him utterly flummoxed. "Hey, what's... uh, what's up?" he asked, spitting some of her hair out of his mouth. "Everythin'," _spit, puff_ , "everythin' all right?"  


  
"Hurts," she keened, curling up in his lap.  


  
Jayne frowned. "What does?"  


  
"Everything."  


  
Jayne snorted. "Girl, you don't know what pain is." He stopped and thought about what Simon had said about her having her skull cut open. A lot. "Okay, maybe you do." He frowned again. "Bad?"  


  
She started to nod, then stopped and shrugged instead.  


  
"Why don't you go tell your brother?" he asked, trying to ignore her soft cheek against his bare shoulder. "He's the doc."  


  
"No," River said firmly, voice shaking slightly. "Simon will yell and snap and tell me _'No more missions.'_ " Raising her head, she fixed him with miserable eyes. "I must earn my keep."  


  
"Hell yeah you must. Ain't no free rides on this ship," Jayne agreed with a derisive snort, before realizing that maybe it wasn't the right thing to say in this situation. River just continued to stare at him, large brown eyes shining with a fine mist of tears, which made Jayne feel like the biggest gorram jackass the 'verse had ever seen. "Quit yer cryin'," he grumbled. "Ain't nothin' I can do for you. Go find Zo'. She's a girl. She'll know how to take better care o' you than me."  


  
"No."  


  
"Whatcha mean, _'No.'_ Gorrammit, girl, I ain't no doctor! Even if I were, I don't make house calls!"  


  
"She is in your house. No calling necessary; she already hears you."  


  
"Crazy-!"  


  
"Kwitcherbitchin'."  


  
Jayne blinked. "Huh?"  


  
River raised her head higher, looking him full in the face now. "Kwitcherbitchin'. An abbreviated form of _quit your bitching,_ commonly used as a colloquialism." She tilted her head, frowning at him. "Stop fighting me. I know you will help."  


  
"Now you can't know any such thing, cuz I ain't _gonna_ help you-"  


  
"Yes you will. And in exchange, I will help you."  


  
"And just what in hell you think you're gonna do for me?"  


  
Soft fingers trailed down his bare chest, and Jayne was suddenly uncomfortably aware of her weight in his lap, her hip against his stomach. "Many bumps and bruises," she murmured, eyes watching her fingertips as they combed effortlessly through the hair on his chest. "More than this man can count." She looked up at him through her lashes. "River can count much higher. Doesn't even need to use her toes."  


  
Jayne scowled at her. "Now you jus'-" He stopped. "You comin' on to me, girl?"  


  
"I am already on you, Jayne Cobb," she said, wiggling faintly in his lap. "The coming is later."  


  
He blinked, trying to comprehend what it was he'd just heard. Before he could get beyond, _Did she just say COMING-_ , she'd stood up off his lap and was beginning to peel off her dress. " _Wo de ma!_ " Jayne exclaimed, covering his eyes with one hand and shoving her further away with the other. "The hell you doin', girl!"  


  
"She told you, her aches and scrapes are in hidden, secret places." There was the soft flutter of thin fabric drifting to the floor, followed by a slithery sound like someone taking off a pair of socks. "If he will look, he can better understand."  


  
"If I look, your brother's liable to put my eyes out with sharp sticks, crazy girl."  


  
"Simon is preoccupied healing the captain, and the girl is not wholly unclothed."  


  
This wasn't fair. Jayne was a man, dammit, and a man who hadn't been with a woman in over a month, thanks to piss-poor jobs and no contact inwards of the Rim. Putting him face to stomach with a half-naked girl was like holding a bucket of water in front of a man dying of thirst and telling him he couldn't drink.  


  
Grinding his teeth, he dared a peek through his fingers.  


  
" _Lao tian..._ ," he breathed as he let his hand drop and raked his eyes up and down River's body.  


  
She'd taken off everything but her panties, which were small and white, just like her. Her arms were crossed demurely over her chest, the dark coils of her hair draping past her shoulders like chocolate drizzling over ice cream.  


  
She was also covered, almost head to toe, in bruises.  


  
"What the hell'd they do to you?" Jayne muttered, reaching out to take her hips and draw her closer, eyes examining her wounded belly.  


  
"Frightened cats will scratch in a corner," she murmured as his fingers skimmed over her skin. "I scared them; an unknown quantity. They fought hard."  


  
"No shit." He turned her carefully, and she shuffled her feet around in a circle so her back was to him. Not much better than the front, though not so bad either. That was good; meant she hadn't let them get behind her. Smart move. "The hell'd they think you'd do? Scratch their eyes out?"  


  
"Yes. And more."  


  
"You're just a little girl!"  


  
"Scare you, don't I?"  


  
Jayne glared up at the back of her head. "Don't scare me," he growled. "Takes more'n a slip of a girl weighs less'n a penny to scare me." Giving her a little shove, he sat back on his bunk, leaning against his wall of weaponry. "Go take a shower and grab some rack time. Best I can do for you."  


  
River peered over her shoulder at him. "Liar," she said.  


  
Jayne arched an eyebrow at her. "Say what now?"  


  
"You are a liar," she repeated, slowly pivoting back to face him again. "It is not that you can't help me. It is that you are afraid to." She clucked her tongue. "Silly Jayne, caught up in language again. Wouldn't know his tongue from a toadstool."  


  
"Hey, I know my tongue, all right?" Jayne barked. "I know it a damn sight better'n you!"  


  
"Pity."  


  
Jayne slanted his eyes at her again. "You sure you ain't hittin' on me, girl?"  


  
"Would you like me to?"  


  
"What, hit on me?"  


  
"It would not be difficult." And suddenly her foot was planted against his throat, pinning him to the wall.  


  
"The hell!" Jayne choked, scrabbling at her ankle.  


  
"You are already bloodied enough without inviting me to hit you more," she said, perfectly poised. Then, tilting her head, "It will become infected."  


  
Jayne was completely lost now. "Huh?"  


  
"This." She took her foot away from his throat and delicately tapped it against his cheek, just over the gash. Jayne hissed through his teeth at the sting, pulling his head away as she drew back her foot. "I will tend you."  


  
"I don't need none o' your loony tending!" Jayne protested, but in vain. River was already climbing onto the bed beside him, her hands delving into the first aid kit. It took him a few seconds to realize this meant the only thing covering her breasts was her hair. "Oh, gorrammit..." he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.  


  
"Old...old... old...," the girl was muttering, as she dug through his supplies. "Old and out of date. Honestly, Jayne Cobb, how you are still alive is surprising."  


  
"I done stayed alive cuz I ain't gotten involved with crazy moonbrain girl's who don' know their head from a hole in the gro-"  


  
Something warm and wet against his cheek shut him up.  


  
A moment passed.  


  
"Uh...," he managed eventually. Then, "Did you just lick me?"  


  
"Yes." Again the warmth of her tongue on his cheek.  


  
"Uh... why?"  


  
"The healing power of saliva is well-documented," she said near his ear. "It will suffice until we are able to obtain better antiseptics from Simon. Also, you taste good."  


  
Jayne opened his eyes to look at her. "That's it, you really _are_ comin' on to me!" he proclaimed, too proud of uncovering her motives to bother caring that she was half-naked. "Ain't no bones about it, that were a come on line good and proper!"  


  
River gave him a _well, duh_ smile. "You are very slow," she said.  


  
"No I ain't! I said you was hittin' on me earlier!"  


  
"And then dropped the issue when you felt you were incorrect." She shook her head and gave him a disapproving look. "You should stick to your guns."  


  
"Me and my guns is attached at the hip, thank you very much. And don't none of that explain _why_ a little girl like you's comin' on to a big man like me."  


  
River shivered, and Jayne was suddenly aware of just how much of her skin was visible. He tried not to look down from her eyes, but was having a hell of a hard time keeping his gaze level.  


  
"Blood lust," she moaned.  


  
"Huh?" he asked, trying to pretend he hadn't gone hard as a rock at the desperate tone of her voice.  


  
Small fingers gripped his thigh, and now there was no hiding it; he wasn't hard as a rock anymore; now he was gorram _titanium_. "The fighting," she whimpered, closing her eyes and arching her neck. "Adrenaline pumping... heartbeats pounding... blood rushing through veins like water through a slurry gate... Ohhhh..."  


  
The moan nearly sent him over the edge. It came clear up from her belly, he could tell. "Yeah," he said, voice rough as he watched her pale skin flush a soft pink. "I know the feelin'."  


  
Her eyes opened again and she pinned him with a dark, hungry stare. "You do," she said, voice firm with purpose. "You know. You _know_. The others... they don't know. They can't know. But you...." One hand made a path up his body, trailing over his stomach, through the hair on his chest, to cup his cheek as she watched with wide-eyed wonder. "You understand." Her teeth worried her lower lip as her fingers traced delicate patterns on his face.  


  
Then, with a groan of desperation, she flung herself at him, climbing into his lap and burying her face in his throat as her fingers clawed into his shoulders. "Jesus!" Jayne exclaimed, his hands going to her waist to try and shove her off. But gorram if her mouth wasn't just the softest one he'd ever felt; and gorram if her tongue wasn't just the trickiest one he'd ever felt. He found his fingers tightening around her waist, pulling her closer rather than shoving her away, because _wo de ma_ , she was right. His blood always ran hot after a fight, especially one like today where he was damn lucky to still be alive. Usually he had to make do with his hand and a few worn pinups, but his John Thomas was already aching at the prospect of a real live woman to satisfy him this time out.  


  
"Me too," River panted near his ear as her smooth belly rubbed across his own. "Fingers in the dark will never truly satisfy."  


  
Now it was Jayne's turn to groan. "Girl, don't talk to me 'bout you masturbatin' when you're shimmyin' 'round in my lap like a wild woman," he moaned. "You're gonna set me off."  


  
"Don't want that," River agreed, bringing up her face to fix him with a bright-eyed, lustful stare. Her perfect white teeth nipped at his lips as she purred, "No premature fire until the weapon is in place." Jayne had never thought the word _"place"_ could be made to sound downright pornographic, let alone the word _"weapon"_ ; he was thrilled to discover he was mistaken.  


  
All her wiggling had just about set his lower half on fire, and the rub of her nipples – small, hard and warm – against his bare chest was doing much the same for his torso. Jayne wasn't a man to say no to a woman when she was warm, willing and eager for him. Girls, though...  


  
Was she a young woman? Yeah, sounded better.  


  
Young women, though... Jayne didn't know how to stop River's writhing, wiggling desperation. He wasn't equipped to handle that kind of situation.  


  
Sexing her till she was blue in the face...  


  
Well, he was born for that.  


  
  
  


\------------------------------

  


  
  
  
River's blood was pounding in her ears. She could feel Jayne's arousal on the physical plane as his erection pressed into her belly, but also on the emotional level as his thoughts spiraled from confused to panicked to lusty in the span of six heartbeats. He had no idea how they'd gotten from point A to point B, but he wasn't about to argue, and River was grateful for that. The last thing she needed right now was for Jayne to start growing a conscience. What she needed now was flesh and blood and bone and thrust, and the mercenary had all of those in spades.  


  
" _Lao tian...!_ " she gasped against his mouth as his fingers closed around her breasts, squeezing. "Oh!"  


  
"This why you came to me, little girl?" the mercenary growled hungrily against her throat as she arched her neck. "You didn't want me to kiss your boo-boos better, didya. You wanted me to pump you dry, ain't that it? You wanted me to use up all them endor fins till you can't barely move. Can't barely breathe." A soft, raspy chuckle sent prickling shivers down her spine. "Came to the right place, Crazy," he goaded, his thumbs teasing over her nipples. "I'm gonna show you ten kinds of heaven 'fore we're through."  


  
River cried out as he shifted under her, sending her tumbling onto her back on the bedsheets. They were cool and rumpled and smooth against her bare back, and she arched against them as though they were on fire. She was vaguely aware of Jayne standing up, shuffling around, and then he was back, stretching out beside her on the bed. She could feel his bare leg sliding along her own and whimpered as the rough hair tickled along her smooth calf.  


  
"Damn, you're wound tight," Jayne breathed, as she rolled onto her side and buried her face in his chest, nipping and sucking everywhere she could find purchase. "It like this every time we get in a tight spot?"  


  
"Yes," River moaned, splaying her hands on his chest winding her fingers in the hair she found there. "Always. Every time. No relief." She moaned again, a little more desperately. She needed action, dammit! "No relief...!"  


  
With a frustrated grunt she pushed on his chest and rolled him onto his back, throwing her leg over his body and ducking her head to suck on his throat. Hard... harder... hard enough to leave a mark; a dark red wounding that would blend with all his other hurts. Her hands dug into the bedclothes, fisting them frantically as her stomach trembled with want.  


  
" _Ai ya..._ ," Jayne moaned, wrapping his arms around her and sliding his fingers into her hair. "Gorram, girl, I knew you was such a hellcat, I'd've taken you to bed long time 'fore this." He tugged on her hair until she was forced to raise her head and look him in the eye. "You gotta slow down or this ain't gonna do nothin' for neither of us, _dong ma_? 'sjus gonna make it half better, and half ain't so good as whole. Get me?" He was panting.  


  
River keened softly, body trembling. "I need," she whimpered, ducking her body to rub her belly against his. "I neeeed..."  


  
"Yeah, I know you do," Jayne grunted, forcing her up onto her knees as he curled into a sitting position. "So do I. Hell's bells, girl, do I ever. Sweet, hot little thing like you climbin' all over me, bitin', clawin', actin' all manner o' needy..." He closed his eyes and shivered, his hands clutching possessively at her back. When he opened his eyes again, they were burning blue. "That jus' means iffen we do this right, 'sgonna be a helluva lot better than anythin' either of us ever done afore. But you gotta slow the hell down." His hand smoothed roughly up and down her back, as if that could somehow ease her tension. All it did to River was make her more aware of how sensitive her skin had suddenly become. She could feel every whorl on his fingertips, every corded muscle in his thighs. With a soft wail of desperation she bucked her hips against him, but only succeeded in making him grab her and hold her still. "Gorrammit, girl, ain'tcha heard a word I jus' said!"  


  
"Help me," she begged softly, bringing her shaking hands up to cup his face. "I'm burning. The veins are glowing and the fire keeps racing like chariots under her skin." Pressing their foreheads together, she let out a shuddering breath.  


  
Jayne's hands loosened on her hips. "I know," he murmured, and she was a little surprised at how sympathetic he sounded. "I know, girl. Hell, I know what it's like for me, and I only _like_ fightin'. You was built for it. 'sgotta be hundred times stronger for you." Then he did something she hadn't expected.  


  
He kissed her on the forehead.  


  
It was a soft, chaste gesture. For a moment she couldn't match it against the man sitting naked beneath her. Most of what she knew of Jayne was rough, course and uncivilized; qualities that had drawn her here as a last resort to help her scratch this burning, yearning itch. Every sinew in her body wanted to be rough, to be course, to be thoroughly, utterly uncivilized...  


  
And then he went and kissed her like she was porcelain. And to her absolute and utter surprise, it helped.  


  
"There now," Jayne murmured, as River felt her tension begin to wane. "See? Take it slow. Jus' don't focus on it." He nudged her jaw with his nose and said, "Lay back."  


  
River's body had stopped obeying her commands several minutes ago, and she was glad to have someone else telling her what to do. With a shaky sigh she let herself fall backwards, her head cushioned on the bunched up blankets at the foot of his bed, her toes stretching out to burrow under his pillow. Jayne slid out from under her legs and stood up beside the bed, running his fingers through his hair in some ridiculous grooming routine. River let her head loll dreamily to the side, and for the first time she took in the full sight of him.  


  
He was naked, but she'd been expecting that. His body was peppered with fresh bruises and a few nicks and cuts, as well as older scars, long since healed and faded. The long scar that stretched across his chest from when she'd slashed him with the butcher's knife was raised and slightly pink. Despite the fact he ate more than the rest of the crew combined – she couldn't remember ever seeing him without some kind of food nearby – he didn't have much fat on him. Most of his bulk – if not all – was pure muscle. She could see them moving under his skin like a perfectly toned, well-oiled machine. She found her eyes being drawn down to his hip flexors, and bit her lower lip as she pictured him rocking against her, slow and purposeful, or hard and unfettered, as her fingers scored fresh track marks down his back-  


  
She moaned.  


  
Jayne dropped his arms and looked in her direction, snickering when he saw the direction of her eyes. "You ever seen a man naked before, crazy girl?" he asked, turning to face the bed full on.  


  
River nodded dreamily. "Yep."  


  
"Oh yeah? When?" He crossed his arms over his chest.  


  
"Books," she said, reaching towards him with a steady hand. "Models. Anatomically correct dolls..." She trailed her fingers down his stomach, feeling the firm ripples of his abdomen coast underneath her fingertips. "Simon."  


  
"SIMON?" Jayne exclaimed. "The hell you talkin' 'bout!"  


  
River shrugged faintly, and giggled at the memory. "With Kaylee," she explained, raising her eyes to meet Jayne's affronted gaze. "I spied with my little eye."  


  
Jayne glared at her for a few more seconds before it melted into a grin. "You sayin' you watched your brother sex it up with little Kaylee?" he asked.  


  
River nodded. "Yep."  


  
"And?"  


  
"And what?"  


  
"Was he any good?"  


  
River shrugged again. "Eh." She giggled again. "Kaylee liked it very much, though."  


  
Jayne laughed. "You Tams're weird," he said.  


  
"Family trait."  


  
"No shit." He let his arms drop as he propped one knee on the side of the bed. "You know what we do now?"  


  
"Copious amounts of rugged animal sex?"  


  
Jayne shivered. " _Ta ma de_ , girl, don't _say_ it like that. You're gonna make me lose it 'fore we even get to the fun parts."  


  
"So no rugged animal sex?" River pouted.  


  
Jayne glared at her. "Cut it out," he said. "No, no rugged animal sex. YET." He reached down and slipped his fingers into her panties. "Gotta get you naked first, don't we? Lift your hips."  


  
River stiffened as he touched her but did as he asked, raising her hips so he could slowly peel away the soft white cotton. She was already wet, and as the cool air of his bunk touched her moist folds she gasped, arching her back and raising her hips further away from the bed.  


  
"Easy now," Jayne murmured, sliding the panties down her legs in what had to be some kind of calculated torture. "Take it slow, 'member? Don't focus on it."  


  
Don't focus on it. She wanted to ask him whose brilliant strategy that was, and then demand hard copy documentation as to its veracity. She couldn't speak for him, but right now her lower body was demanding attention like a small child at the fair screaming for cotton candy. Squeezing her eyes shut, she slid her hands down her body, feeling sweat glide under her palms as she dipped her fingertips between her legs, skimming along either side of her mound. The sensation made her gasp and jump as all sight and sound was drowned away by a soft, incessant kind of ambient static. Guiding her fingers inward, she let out a gasping moan as her fingertips brushed over the throbbing bundle of nerves at the top of her slit. Biting her lip, she began to stroke gently, wanting to draw out the sensations, knowing that if she went too fast it would be over all too quickly-  


  
Suddenly, rough hands grabbed her wrists, yanking her hands away. With a strangled cry, River opened her eyes, trying to bring the swimming world back into focus. When she finally managed to blink away the static, she found herself confronted by a pair of hungry, feral blue eyes.  


  
"No," Jayne growled, squeezing her wrists. "Fingers ain't gonna cut it, 'member? 'Sides." Here he grinned; a slow, wolf-like upturning of his lips. "That's my job, now ain't it?"  


  
River felt her stomach flip as he darted his head forward with surprising quickness, closing his mouth around her moist fingers and sucking. "Oh...!" she gasped as his tongue swirled around her knuckles. "Oh... _lao tian_ , oh...."  


  
  
  


\---------------------

  


  
  
  
Fuck.  


  
Fuck, fuck, fuck.  


  
Was she supposed to feel this good in his mouth? Hell, it was just her fingers he was sucking on and he was already jonesing to taste a whole lot more of her. Seeing her touching herself like that... Well, it'd just about sent his body into sensory overload. Maybe someday he'd sit there and just watch her get herself off like that. Gorram, that'd be all kinds of sexy.  


  
Provided there'd ever _be_ a someday.  


  
"Jayyyne..." she moaned, the fingers of her free hand tunneling through his hair.  


  
Oh, hell yes there'd be a someday. There'd be a whole gorram _century_ of somedays if he got his way. She tasted too damn good for this to be a one time thing.  


  
The suction on her fingers was sending the girl into orbit; he could feel her wriggling against him, hips rising and falling in time with his mouth. Oh, Christ, her pussy was rubbing against his stomach, warm and wet and inviting as anything. He dropped her hand, ignoring her soft cry of protest as he grabbed her hips and hauled her up so her legs were draped over his shoulders. "I'll show you better'n fingers," he muttered, scenting her arousal like a bloodhound. Gorram, she wanted him. Wanted him _badly_.  


  
Dipping his head forward, Jayne stroked his tongue along her folds, squeezing her hips when he heard her cry of pleasure. He felt her legs tighten around his head and took that as his cue to keep going. Moving forward, he teased her clit with his tongue for a moment before going deeper and sliding into her body.  


  
She came immediately. "JAYNE!" she cried, her hips grinding against his face as she rode out her orgasm. Jayne held tight, working his mouth against her; he'd meant it when he said he'd show her ten kinds of heaven. This was just one of them.  


  
When she'd calmed down enough that she wasn't going to snap his neck with her thighs if he moved away, Jayne pulled back, running his tongue over her one more time before settling her back down on the bed. "Felt good I be-" he began, before finding himself cut off by a mouthful of dark hair as River sat up and wrapped herself around him, hugging him tightly with both arms and legs. She was shaking from the aftereffects of her orgasm, and he found himself twining his arms around her in an effort to calm her tremors. "Hey now," he said, rubbing her back. "Wasn't so bad, was it?"  


  
River shook her head quickly against his shoulder. "N...No," she stammered. "Good."  


  
"Then what for you clingin' to me like velcro?"  


  
The girl rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, pressing her nose into his neck. "I... I broke apart," she whispered. "Millions of little River pieces floating around in space..." Her fingers tightened against his back, sharp nails digging into his shoulder blades and making him grit his teeth. "She doesn't want to get lost."  


  
"Girl, you're talkin' crazy again," he muttered. But he didn't let her go. "You ain't gone nowhere. All you did was have one helluva orgasm; happens all the time." He paused, thought, and rephrased. "Okay, not all the time. Orgasms like that... Well, you were wantin' hard on that one. They ain't all gonna be that strong." Her hair smelled nice; kinda like that incense _go se_ on Inara's shuttle, only less nauseating and more sweet. Pressing his face into her hair, Jayne took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Guess you ain't never had a real good one like that, huh?"  


  
She shook her head against him, nestling closer.  


  
"Not even with yourself?"  


  
"Soft. Quiet. The earth never shook before."  


  
Jayne chuckled. "Yeah, well, I been known to do that for a woman." Stroking her back, he gently kissed her shoulder. He didn't rightly remember the last time he'd ever gently kissed any woman's shoulder, or any other part of a woman, but he figured it wouldn't do to go scaring her when she was already shaking like a leaf on a tree. "Felt good now, didn't it? You already said it did, so no lyin' now."  


  
A soft puff of air against the side of his neck was his only indication that she was giggling. "Yes," she agreed. "It felt good."  


  
"So ain't nothin' to be scared of. Nobody's comin' apart at the seams and flyin' around like puzzle pieces in the black." Pulling back slightly, he ducked his head so he could look into her downturned face. " _Dong ma?_ "  


  
River raised her eyes, looking at him through her lashes. "She understands," she murmured.  


  
Jayne smiled for her. "Well all right then," he said, rubbing her arms. "Now I bet you're feeling less like you've got ants in your pa-"  


  
He was cut off again; not by hair this time, but by lips, as River covered his mouth with her own and drowned him in the hottest, wettest, softest, deepest, most gorram sexual kiss he ever did have the pleasure of experiencing.  


  
Jayne wasn't a man who did a lot of kissing. It was too intimate for the kinds of women he spent his time with. Besides, he held on to a downhomey belief that you oughta love the woman you kiss, else it cheapened the whole thing. He had fun with his whores and they had fun with him, but he didn't love them, no more than they loved him. They had a good time, good sex, and some laughs. Kissing? They didn't want it and he didn't give it.  


  
But the way River was working her tongue inside his mouth, she _wanted_ it. Boy did she ever. And his rusty kissing muscle was picking it up faster than he would've thought possible, because inside of ten seconds the shock had passed and he was kissing her in return.  


  
"Mmmmm...," she moaned into his mouth, one hand sliding down between his shoulder blades as the other cupped the good side of his face, her thumb strumming lazily back and forth over his cheekbone.  


  
"Mmm-hmmm...," he moaned back, his hands gliding down her back to squeeze her ass.  


  
The girl was all sinewy muscle and silky skin as she pushed him slowly backwards, until he was stretched out on the bed and she was hovering over him, mouth still working his like there was never going to be another tomorrow. He kneaded her ass, the tops of her thighs, rubbing his thumbs over the sharp ridges of her hipbones. She pressed her breasts into his chest and he shivered to feel the soft globes of flesh flatten out against his harder body. Her mouth was warm and inviting, and he dragged one hand up her spine to tangle in her hair as he raised his head to make the kiss deeper and even more passionate. Hell, he hadn't thought of anything as _"passionate"_ since his first girl, years and years back. River was just full of all kinds of surprises.  


  
Eventually, the need to breathe overcame the desire to stay locked together, and Jayne loosened his grip enough that River could raise her head. She did so, though only slightly, so that he could still feel her lips brushing his as they panted together. He could feel her belly pressing against his with each gasp they took in unison, and he found it strangely erotic. Pressing on her tailbone, he brought her closer, enjoying the way the sweat between them made her slippery but acted simultaneously as an airtight seal. "Liked that, huh?" he panted, massaging her scalp as she looked into his eyes.  


  
River nodded faintly. "Uh-huh," she murmured. Twitching her head slightly, she bumped her nose against his. "Warm, sweet kisses," she sighed, her body relaxing on top of his. "You taste like me."  


  
Jayne chuckled. "Well considerin' where my mouth was not five minutes ago, that ain't surprisin'." He grinned to see the blush that stained her cheeks. "Wassat now? Our resident gorram high falutin' genius is embarrassed 'bout gettin' sexed up good and proper?"  


  
River giggled and nipped his lips. "Not good and proper," she chided, nuzzling his lips. "Good and tasty, but proper requires different hardware."  


  
Her mouth was moving against his chin as she slowly made her way down his throat. Jayne closed his eyes, letting his hand fall from her hair as her soft lips ghosted over his collarbone. "Where you goin'?" he mumbled.  


  
"Down," she murmured, grazing her teeth over his left nipple.  


  
Jayne groaned. "Why?"  


  
"I want to make you blush."  


  
Jayne let out a soft woof of laughter. "Baby girl, ain't no one made me blush since I was fifteen."  


  
"Rules were made to be broken." She ran her tongue down the midline of his pectorals before kissing her way across his belly. "So were mercenaries named Jayne."  


  
Jayne moaned as her hair tickled the tops of her thighs. "You gonna break me then, baby girl?" he asked, voice rough. "That the idea?"  


  
"Mm-hmm," she affirmed, nuzzling the trail of hair that led from his pelvis down to his cock, which was throbbing in a pleasant, eager kind of way.  


  
"How you gonna do that?"  


  
"By making you blush."  


  
"And I already told you that ain't gonna happen."  


  
"Yes it will." She kissed his thigh, then reached between his legs to squeeze him firmly.  


  
Jayne let out a soft slew of curses as her soft white fingers cupped and squeezed his balls. "That... ain't gonna do it, crazy girl," he gasped. "I had plenty o'... women... do that 'fore you..."  


  
"Mm-hmm," River hummed in that infuriatingly calm way of hers. "And this?"  


  
She extended her warm pink tongue and ran it the full length of his cock, from base to tip. Jayne shuddered and moaned, shaking his head. "Done it... before..." he said through gritted teeth.  


  
"And this?" Opening her mouth, she closed her lips around the head of his cock, slowly sinking down until she had enough of him in her mouth that she could work him with her tongue.  


  
" _Ai ya, lao tian!_ " Jayne grunted, squeezing his eyes shut and digging his fingers into the mattress as his body tightened and he felt himself go rock hard in her mouth. "That... that ain't new neither...," he managed to pant, though it felt like he was lying, because no woman who'd ever had him in her mouth like this had ever felt so... curious. It was exciting as hell.  


  
When River raised her head, he almost cried, it hurt that bad. He just wanted to grab her hair and force her mouth back down so he could find that release he needed. The adrenaline was still running through his veins from the botched job, and he could tell from the way River's dark eyes were dilated, she wasn't entirely over her own fit of blood lust. "Still ain't... made me blush, little girl," he panted, his fingers playing with her hair in an effort to take his mind off how warm and comfortable her mouth had felt over his cock. "Whatcha got left?"  


  
River rested her cheek on his thigh, gazing up at him for a minute as if trying to read his mind. It took a second for Jayne to remember she could be doing that very thing. Before he could open his mouth to protest, she spoke.  


  
"I know what will break you," she murmured. "Do you want to know, too?"  


  
Jayne licked his lips. "Shoot," he said.  


  
River pushed up until she was sitting on his knees, palms flat on his stomach. "This," she said, and leaned forward.  


  
At first, Jayne thought she was going to kiss him again. But she bypassed his mouth and brought her lips down next to his ear.  


  
"I'm eighteen," she whispered. "I'm a virgin. I've never wanted sex like this, and the first time I ever wanted it so badly I could cry, I came to you. You make me remember pronouns. I want to feel you inside me. I want to hear you say my name. I want to make you forget yours." She nibbled his earlobe before adding, "I want to help you invent ten more heavens, and an eleventh just for us." She sighed, slumping on top of him. "A century of somedays sounds good, but can we make it a millenium?"  


  
Then, very softly, "I feel you blushing."  


  
Jayne growled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "River," he muttered as he rolled her onto her back, pinning her beneath him.  


  
The girl gazed up at him with impossibly dark eyes. "Snap," she murmured, arms draped above her head. "You're broken."  


  
"And you're crazy," he muttered, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Now we're both cracked."  


  
And he pushed into her.  


  
  
  


\-------------------------

  


  
  
  
These were the things River saw.  


  
She saw a twelve-year old boy with mud in his hair and bloody knuckles, as a little doe-eyed girl with blond ringlets kissed him on the cheek.  


  
She saw an older boy, perhaps fourteen, dressed in a churchgoing suit two sizes too small, standing tall and awkward on a neighbor's front step with a handful of fresh-picked wildflowers.  


  
She saw a child, maybe four, stealing a kiss from a little girl at the stock pens in town during the harvest festival.  


  
She saw a young man, tall and cocky, chomping on a fresh cigar as he stuffed a wad of new bills in a stripper's garter belt.  


  
She saw herself. She was pink and soft and rounded where she oughta be, and smooth where she oughta be, and dainty like his momma's best china. She wasn't all there, but neither was his momma's tea service, and just because you were missing a sugar bowl didn't mean the rest of it weren't still fine and pretty and something to be cared for.  


  
The tears that sprang up in her eyes had nothing to do with the sharp pain in her lower body as he broke through her maidenhead.  


  
"Gorrammit, I'm sorry," Jayne panted as he came to a standstill. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, baby girl, gotta do it..."  


  
River blinked, tears spilling from her eyes as the images faded. "I know," she whispered, resting her hands on his shoulders and running her fingers through his hair. She smiled to show him she wasn't afraid. "Now we're both broken."  


  
Jayne huffed out a soft laugh. "I'll make a note of it in my diary."  


  
"With little hearts and arrows?"  


  
"Hell, I'll throw in cherubs."  


  
River giggled, then bit her lip as the soreness in her lower body spiked with the movement.  


  
"We all right here?" Jayne asked, holding himself up on one arm as he swept her hair back with the opposite hand.  


  
River released her lip to point out, "I'm covered in bruises and you're still bloody." She tweaked his nose. "We are far from all right."  


  
Jayne laughed again. "Yeah, we're a real mess," he agreed, then gently rocked his hips. River gasped, stiffening beneath him. "Nice and slow, 'member?" he murmured, rocking carefully again. "Don't focus on it..."  


  
River nodded, choosing instead to watch his face. His jaw was set, eyes fixed downwards to where their bodies joined as he set a slow, steady rhythm. He wasn't at all what she would have considered Mr. Right material when she was a thirteen-year old girl with a crush on Tommy Palchow in Advanced Physics. Tommy'd been older than her, too; he'd been eighteen. She seemed to have an attraction to older men. That was an interesting point; she'd have to make note for further stud-  


  
"Ohhhhhhh," she moaned, eyes fluttering shut as her body started to respond to Jayne's slow, rhythmic strokes. A quiet fire was building in her belly, kindling up from the flames left over from her earlier orgasm.  


  
"Tha's right," Jayne panted, speeding up his hips ever so slightly. "Jus' like that..."  


  
Oh.  


  
Oh oh...  


  
He was larger than she would have believed she could fit, yet somehow he was able to move inside her. When she tightened her legs around his waist he moved deeper, and that just opened up whole new doors of sensation. This was not something books could teach. Books didn't even do the subject justice. Forget Shepard Book's Bible – books on anatomy were the _true_ purveyors of lies.  


  
"More," she begged, flexing her fingers against his back. "More, more, more...!"  


  
" _Ta ma de,_ " Jayne growled, pressing his face into her chest as his hips began to slam into her with abandon. "Gorrammit, you're tight... So tight, baby girl..."  


  
River threw back her head and moaned as the pressure in her belly built to a crescendo. Jayne-flashes kept sputtering through her mind, images of his childhood, his youth, his adulthood, until all his thoughts focused on the here and now. She was looking at herself again, in a strange kind of dual symmetry. All her little defects were wiped clean, as if she were some kind of revisionist model of herself. In Jayne's eyes, she was plumper in places she knew she was too thin and rounder in places she knew she was too sharp. It wasn't that he was mentally fixing her flaws; he just didn't see them.  


  
It was this realization that sent her spiraling over the edge, calling out his name and clinging to him like a raft in a flood. "Jaaaayyyne!" she keened, as her body spasmed around him. "Jayne...!"  


  
"Oh _lao tian,_ " Jayne groaned, pressing his forehead against her shoulder. "River... River...!"  


  
He choked out her name as his hips pressed forward and he stalled inside her, gasping as he came apart. River wrapped her arms around him, tightening her legs about his waist, so he wouldn't fall to pieces the way she had earlier. She didn't want him to be afraid; she wasn't going to let him go.  


  
He collapsed on top of her, mumbling something against her throat. River purred, feeling his whiskers tickle her skin. "Adrenaline levels normal," she said, stroking his back.  


  
"Adrenaline levels fallen off the edge of the gorram grid, crazy girl," Jayne mumbled, sliding to the side to shift his weight off her. "I think I'm gonna sleep for a week."  


  
River snuggled up next to him, tucking her face into his throat and sighing softly. "We're dirty," she murmured, closing her eyes.  


  
Jayne chuckled. "Yeah we are, dirty girl." And he gently spanked her ass.  


  
River giggled. "Not like a metaphor, dirty man," and she returned the slap. "We are sweaty and bloody and covered in dirt." She kissed his chin. "We need a bath."  


  
Jayne yawned like a bear and perched his chin on the top of her head. "Tell me when you find one," he mumbled sleepily. "I'll sponge you down."  


  
River rolled her eyes. So this was what the books meant when they said men liked to fall asleep after sex. She wasn't sleepy. She wanted to talk. And with the endorphins steadily sapping from her body, she was beginning to feel the soreness from the afternoon's fight as well as their acrobatics. "Jayne?"  


  
"Hmm?"  


  
"Shower with me."  


  
He lifted his chin down off her head to peer at her through one eye. "You wanna shower?"  


  
River gave him a dazzling grin. "Yes," she said with a quick little nod. Then, "I'll let you sponge me down. Then I'll sponge _you_ down. Besides," she added with a mischievous little grin, "you still owe me rugged animal sex."  


  
She decided the books were liars again. Men didn't necessarily _want_ to fall asleep after sex; they just didn't have incentive not to. That was the only way to explain his whoop of excitement as he scooped her up, leapt off the bed, and pelted towards his room's itty-bitty shower stall.  


  
River giggled and pressed her nose into his shoulder. Blood lust was great, she decided, but nothing beat the afterglow.  


  
  
  
  
  
**THE END**


End file.
